Now, I don't go on vacations

Or should I say, I don't go on trips. So all the spring break talk that usually gets inferno-hot this time of year on campus means pretty much zilch to me. If I was going on a trip, it wouldn't be anywhere nasty hot like the Bahamas or Cancun. It would be lovely, lovely...

...Venice



Or just Europe in general. Mmmm, just think of hitting up every shrine on the continent. At least every shrine on the happy side of the crumbling remains of the Iron Curtain!

Ash Wednesday

It's coming. Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday! Or, as I would say if I were French or a citoyenne of New Orleans, it's Mardi Gras!

Now, Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation, but Catholics tend to treat it as one. My pastor said last year that around here, more people come to Church on Ash Wednesday than even on Christmas or Easter! I guess maybe people do realize the reality of sin... Or they just want to shout out that they "belong" with those Catholics over there, and they want everybody to know it!

Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and a day of abstinence. Fasting means two small meals, only one regular meal, and no food in between meals. Abstinence means no meat whatsoever, unless you are very old, very young, or in some kind of health crisis.

Personally, I always try to do the old Irish black fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. That means just bread and water. I'm young, and the discipline always helps.

Guess who I saw on TV

Tonight, as I trolled along with my duties of procrastinating, lying around, and feeling guilty about not at least using the time to pray, I switched on the telly and started flipping through. I usually fly right through the Black Entertainment Channel, simply because... I'm not black. And I don't like rap. However, much to my amazement, at the somewhat late hour of 10 o'clock at night (or thereabouts) there was a program of a much different sort on BET...

That's right...

ROBERT TILTON.

Some of you, if you are old enough, may remember the great Robert Tilton debacle of several years ago. Mr. Tilton is basically a television preacher/con artist. He would, in the manner of all televangelists, instruct people to call in or send in a "seed" (cash) along with prayer requests; he promised to "pray over" the prayer requests... Which, from the prayer "testimonials", seem to often be for less-than-spiritual things like money... and then, through Mr. Tilton's gift of anointing, your wish (I mean prayer!) would come true. Or something. All the while he was on the air he would make odd facial expressions and have strange little conversations with God. He's also well-known as "the Farting preacher," courtesy of some clever techies with an Internet connection.

Anyway, some news organization did a big expose in which it was discovered that Mr. Tilton employed a bunch of people to simply open the mail, take out the money, and dispatch, unread, whatever was left in the envelope to the shredder and ultimately the dumpster. Mr. Tilton had to take a leave of absence and I understand he had a great deal of financial and marital difficulties (in the divorce papers, his wife claimed that Mr. Tilton told her that he was the Pope and that rats were eating his brains).

I guess he's back. What a weird feeling, to see him on TV, wheeling and dealing! It makes me wonder - what exactly will be the eternal reward of the folks who use the Gospel exclusively for monetary gain? Or who focus it on materialist objectives? (Think the whole "Word Faith" movement here, Kenneth Copeland et al.) Maybe Mr. Tilton really is out of his mind, and the merciful God will, full of pity, overlook everything. One hopes.

Official score

From the 2006 Ice Escapade:

One (1) fall, when I skated/slid into my roommate, Lauren;

Two (2) times around the rink without either lurching for the wall or holding someone's hand (look, Mommy, she did it all by herself!)

Yes, my friends finally got me to go ice skating. A couple of weeks ago we went, only to find that the rink was closed for a hockey game (shocker!). They threatened, cajoled, and yelled me into going, and am I ever glad they did! It was lots of fun, in spite of the fact that my paranoid fear of falling pretty much caused an adrenaline overload. When they brought out the zamboni, my two of my roommates Lauren and Lyndsey and Lyndsey's boyfriend and I amused ourselves by doing the wave, saluting, making loud animal noises etc. every time the machine went past. We got him to honk a couple of times. It was fun!

So now I sort-of-kind-of-not-really know how to ice skate. Of course, I was wearing hockey skates. I don't know if it's harder or easier to do it on figure skates.

Incidentally: I'm sure everyone is well aware that Ash Wednesday is fast approaching! I've decided to give up buttered bread for Lent. This sounds like nothing, I know, and it would be nothing, except that I eat a slice of buttered bread with just about every meal. Sometimes two slices of buttered bread are the meal. Disgusting, I know. But there you go! My friend Lauren says that I also must pledge to do new things during Lent, as another little sacrifice. Like ice skating. No problem - depending on what she and my other roommates come up with for me ;)

A pattern?

Michael Novak connnects a few dots on the First Things blog On the Square...

The point of blowing up the Mosque in Samarra was clearly political. The sacrilegious blast was meant to destroy any chance of a new democratic government from forming in Iraq. It was meant to precipitate immense passionate reactions, and counter reactions—in short, civil war. A huge, bloody civil war. In Iraq.

Almost immediately—did you notice?—the government of Iran announced that this horrible blast was an act of foreign intelligence: Israeli and American. The speed of Iran’s governmental campaign to spread this message suggested that some in Iran had advance warning, perhaps only to the extent that this sort of dramatic terror was coming any day. The next day, people were burning American and Israeli flags in the streets...

If you do not believe me, and I am no expert, just read their own documents. Listen to what their seemingly crazed leaders say on their own seemingly semi-crazed smuggled tapes. One of these times, don’t just shrug and say, “He’s nuts!” One of these times, stop and think: “He means it. He really means it.” And note what they are doing. And where, month by month, year by year. And how it all hangs together. There has been a record now, for some twenty years and more.

Entire post.

Homestar Runner Wiki!

I didn't know such a wonderful thing existed! Here is a little bit of their article on Strong Bad:

Strong Bad is one of the most well-known characters on Homestarrunner.com. He started out as the villain who always tried to cheat his way to the top but was always doomed to fail before Homestar Runner. Now he's less of a villain and more of a highly expanded form of comic relief. He answers e-mails with a passion. He will make fun of your grammar, punctuation, and spelling, but doesn't seem to be worried about his own. He also writes, illustrates, and narrates the Teen Girl Squad comics. He is the middle child of the Brothers Strong. His is the dominant personality and he loves to push everyone around: he's often abusing Homestar, kicking The Cheat, prank-calling Marzipan, or tormenting Strong Sad (although he and Strong Sad did seem to get along when they were younger).

Read it all.

See the Homestar Wiki

Big day

Papa announced today that he is creating 15 more cardinals. Among the big names were:

Archbishop Sean O'Malley, of the See of Boston (brought in to clean up after Cardinal Law)



Archbishop Carlo Caffarra of the See of Bologna (who succeeds Cardinal Biffi)



and Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow (John Paul II's private secretary gets a richly-deserved reward for his decades of selfless service)



Also elevated to the rank of Cardinal were Archbishop William Levada, formerly of San Francisco, who has replaced Benedict as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Bishop Joseph Zen of Hong Kong, a strong critic of China's repressive regime.

Congratulations to the new cardinals! May they long wear the red!

Breathe, breathe, breathe

It's Tuesday evening, and I am finally coming down from my work frenzy... Yay...

Unfortunately I am exhausted and I don't think I'll get much done tonight. I have another three page paper due Friday that I really should get working on. Ahem. Yep. It's going to be on women in the medieval period; my thesis is that, contrary to popular belief, the ladies were not so completely held face down in the mud by the male sex during that era. We are restricted to using primary sources for our information, so that means I get to troll through some genuine medieval texts and make my own analyses, instead of reading the analyses of Dr. Moonbat Textbookwriter, Ph. D.

Seriously, our text isn't quite that bad. It's just not very thorough. It is a 100-level class, and there are definitely freshmen in it. I guess you can't demand too much from the kids.

I have two of my three stories in, both under the deadline - the president of the Cardinal Newman Society, Mr. Patrick Reily, was very nice and willing to answer my questions about the V Monologues! I haven't heard back from my editor on that medieval Bible story. Bleh. Yesterday I spent the whole afternoon, and much of the evening, with my "non-traditional student" source, and her darling little daughter, Winter. I am a big hit with the kids. What do you mean, you're shocked? ;)

I was hoping to skip my 8 am class tomorrow to go to daily Mass. However, the professor is starting to up the ante a little bit and I don't think I can afford to miss. Blast. Definitely will go Friday, however...

Now this is interesting

Vatican Decree Is Costing Publishing World

By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY - Royalties for Pope Benedict XVI's writings and speeches? The Italian publishing world is aghast.

The demand by the Vatican to respect copyright on the pontiff's writings and pay for their use has triggered hot debate: Should an institution which exists to spread the word of God be putting a price on papal writ?

Unthinkable, say some authors. Not so, counters the Vatican; the authors are being paid for their efforts, so why not the church?

While the question is pondered, the new papacy is shaping up as a publisher's dream. Benedict's first encyclical, "God is Love," is a best-seller...

Article.

Well, well, well

If you read my sister's blog, perhaps you know that on her post about the ever-difficult comptroller of Maryland, our kid brother Arthur announced that we now have... Drumroll, please... A new dog.

Now, neither myself nor my sister have actually seen this pooch, not living at home and all; however, this was a very clever trick on my parents' part to really entice me back up to Cleveland ;)

What I find amusing is that when our first dog, Lucy, was very tiny and was in the arduous process of being house-broken, my mother frequently declared that "this is my LAST Dog. When I get old, I am going to travel, and not worry about kennels or house-breaking or veterinarian fees." Then one of us kids would make some snickering remark about how she already was old, and then dearest Mother would chase us around the kitchen table attempting to give the offender a solid and well-deserved swat.

Apparently, Mother has changed her mind about the Last Dog business; we kind of knew she would. She also frequently gave the Last Dog speech during the life of our previous pup, who was named Foxy. Our beloved Foxy died, and, wouldn't you know it, a month later Mother was calling up breeders.

The new dog is a pound puppy, however. My younger brother Andy paid for her with his own money, so there can be no complaints about that. Her name is Ava, according to Mother. Here she is:



Apparently Lucy is getting along well with her new sister, although I imagine she's somewhat put out about having to compete for attention. Oh well. Welcome to the madhouse, Ava.

Please pray

For the victims of the recent mudslide in the Philippines:

GUINSAUGON, Philippines (AP) - Rescue workers held little hope Saturday of finding survivors from a devastating landslide, saying this farming village was swallowed whole by a wall of mud and boulders.

Lt. Col. Raul Farnacio, the highest-ranking military officer at the scene of Friday's disaster, estimated the death toll at about 1,800 - nearly every man, woman and child who lived in Guinsaugon.

"Out of a population of 1,857, we have 57 survivors and 19 bodies," a grim Farnacio said as search efforts resumed Saturday in a drenching rain and high winds that made the task even more miserable. "We presume that more or less that 1,800 are feared dead."

Rest of article. Via Drudge.

Current projects

Dearest readers, let me vent for a moment. I've got three stories going at once right now, and it's kind of driving me batty. First, I've got a story on the... V. Monologues (yes, THAT infamous piece) with a Tuesday afternoon deadline. Don't ask how I got stuck with such a disgusting assignment. Of course I am going to try to counter the current feminist orthodoxy about it. It's for a class, so it's sort of important that I do well with the topic.

Secondly, I've got a Sunday night deadline on that medieval Bible story I'm writing for General Assignment with The Post. It's almost all done, and it's not too hot, but my editor is very gentle, so maybe it won't... Hurt... Too... Much...

Third, I am doing a feature story on "a day in the life of a non-traditional student." Basically, I get to follow around a friend of mine who happens to be a single mother in her mid-30s, who is here at OU finishing up her undergraduate degree. It's for a class, too. I much prefer writing features to writing straight news stories, simply because I come from a magazine journalism background and that's the kind of article I enjoy putting together. The trouble with an open-ended feature like this is that it's somewhat difficult to determine what the angle is going to be and how to focus it. And at the end of the day, it's a newspaper feature, not a magazine feature, so it's not as though I can write in whatever style I like.

It'll be all right, though, I'm sure. My main focus has to be on getting it done, getting it done, and getting it done! It's funny that I should pick journalism as a major when I love getting things in just under deadline, urgh ;)

What are the two groups of people that do the most baby-kissing?

1. Politicians

2. Popes!




Awwww...

Pope Benedict XVI kisses a child on the head at the end of his weekly Wednesday general audience at the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican February 15, 2006. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

I completely forgot

To wish everybody a


HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY!


Silly me! Besides being a day when people generally go off their diets (either temporarily or permanently) Feb. 14 is also the feast of a great and rather colorful saint, about whom many legends have been told.

The Life of St. Valentine:

Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith in effectual, commended him to be beaten with clubs, and afterwards, to be beheaded, which was executed on February 14, about the year 270. Pope Julius I is said to have built a church near Ponte Mole to he memory, which for a long time gave name to the gate now called Porta del Popolo, formerly, Porta Valetini. The greatest part of his relics are now in the church of St. Praxedes. His name is celebrated as that of an illustrious martyr in the sacramentary of St. Gregory, the Roman Missal of Thomasius, in the calendar of F. Fronto and that of Allatius, in Bede, Usuard, Ado, Notker and all other martyrologies on this day. To abolish the heathens lewd superstitious custom of boys drawing the names of girls, in honor of their goddess Februata Juno, on the fifteenth of this month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of saints in billets given on this day...

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, a great illustrated book printed in 1493. [Additional evidence that Valentine was a real person: archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine.] Alongside a woodcut portrait of him, text states that Valentinus was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius the Goth [Claudius II]. Since he was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding any Christians who were being persecuted under Emperor Claudius in Rome [when helping them was considered a crime], Valentinus was arrested and imprisoned. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner -- until Valentinus made a strategic error: he tried to convert the Emperor -- whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn't do it, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate [circa 269].

Entire article from Catholic Online...

Oops and ouch

Yesterday was my second time donating plasma, so my friend got her $10. Now I am under no "but you promised" obligation to go :) However, they only gave me $20 and not the $25 I was expecting. I think I might end up writing a check to the Missionaries of Charity or something.

Since last time I gave plasma out of my left arm, this time I told them to prick my right arm. About five minutes into the process, however, the little machine that was drawing and separating the blood began to beep its consternation. The attending technician explained that the blood was leaking and not going back into my vein (when you donate plasma, you actually get all of your blood back, minus the stuff that they want). So they had to put a needle in my left arm again. Ouch.

I have to say that the entire plasma-donating experience has kind of creeped me out. Everything is very clean - white lab coats, sterilization; it's a very toe-the-medical-line place. It just seems so... Mechanized. They hook you up to an awful-looking, noise-making machine that draws out your bodily fluids, processes them, and then turns the material over to be used in manufacturing. The actual gears on the machine are only covered up with a transparent piece of plastic, so you can actually watch your blood flood into a little clear box; when it reaches a certain level and has been "processed," it starts to drip back into your veins. Even the job titles are weirdly industrialized. There's only one nurse on the premises; everyone else is a "technician."

More amusing are the numerous attempts to make the donors feel very altruistic about their activity. I saw a couple pamphlets that gave information about how to "Eating well while doing good," and another thanking visitors for "saving a life today!" In the waiting room there are posters about hemophilia patients. The sole part of the place that reminds people that they're only doing this to get paid is the cash register on one end of the counter.

Now, obviously, hemophiliacs need medicines. The plasma does benefit a lot of people. However, I looked it up and there's no state law that says you've got to be paid to donate. Chapter 3725 of the Ohio Revised Code, which is the law that deals with plasmapheresis centers, simply defines what the centers are and regulates their operations: They have to be certified, employ a nurse on the premises, make frequent reports to hthe Health Department, have people was their hands, etc. The only other statute I could find was 2108.11 which says that blood, hair, plasma, bone, and other donations are not to be legally defined as "sales."

My roommate made us both appointments to go back to the plasma place on Thursday, but I'm starting to feel a little sick, and you can't give when you're ill, anyway. I don't think I really want to do it again, unless I hear about a charity that is in dire need of the money.

Reconciliation?

Probably later rather than sooner, alas :(

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI meets with top cardinals in the Sala Bologna at the Vatican, Monday, Feb. 13, 2006. The pontiff convened top cardinals and heads of Vatican departments on Monday to discuss relations with the schismatic ultraconservative movement founded by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, HO)

Sick

I have no problem telling a hydrocephalic or a Down's person that it would have been better had they not been born. These things are a HUGE burden, seldom or never live a normal life, and WHAT happens to them WHEN THE PARENT DIES?

One of the comments on this thread, which is basically a peon to the All-Holy Sacredness of Abortion Rights.

Nonproductive Saturday

Today, I hate to admit, I slept in until 12:30. Very embarrassing, but, alas, what can I say...?

It was generally a very sleepy day. I just couldn't seem to "get going" on anything. Not another fit of procrastination, I hope.

Our priest is on vacation this week, and so we are having a visiting priest - the vocations director of the diocese, actually - fill in at all of the Masses this weekend. So, perhaps (hopefully) we will have a good homily about the sublime nature of the priesthood. I certainly hope that he says Mass reverently, as it really wouldn't do to have an ad-libber try to attract young men to the seminary...

I saw him briefly at Adoration tonight, and he had a kind face. Not that you should judge people by the looks of them, of course ;)

This evening two of my roommates and their boyfriends and I indulged in a little game of war - we had those glow sticks one sees at fireworks shows, and we basically turned off the lights and threw them and other projectiles at each other. While somewhat childish it was lots of fun, and we only had one near miss with the glassware :)

My roommates are also trying to force me to go ice skating with them tonight. Now, as I'm sure I've said before, the image I create on skates is enough to move the most hardened secular humanist to a profound spirit of repentance and fear of the Lord, in anticipation of the approaching Apocalypse. Nevertheless, I think I will go, to please them. I've been once before and my performance was very blehhhh. If I have a difficult time I will just hang out in the penalty box alongside the rink! They can't force me to skate! Bwaaa ha!

The only difficulty this creates is that I really should have spent the evening reading for school. Maybe I will bring my book along and get some work done in the penalty box...

Grrr

I'm already kind of in a bad mood today. I went to the library pre-sale yesterday and came upon a couple treasures: a Don Camillo book, a fine copy of Dante, and Alessandro Manzoni's I Promessi Sposi in the orignial Italian - not that I can actually read Italian, of course :)

However, the pre-sale prices are double the regular price, so I went home sans les livres, telling myself that I would hurry back early the next day. Needless to say, when I got back to the library today, the only one of the three still on the tables was the Manzoni. Blast! So I was forced to buy just that one, plus One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich(just to relive the awfulness of the Soviets) Mitford's The American Way of Death, a reader on Aristotle, and a book of Gerard Manley Hopkins' poetry. Five dollars, total.

Shucks. Oh well. It was a learning experience. From now on, whenever I see something by Guareschi on sale I am going to snap it up, regardless of price.

Question: Is it moral to donate (sell) plasma?

I donated plasma today, and it was not too bad! Just very cold. Of course when I say "donated" I basically mean "sold," since they pay you for your time and bodily fluids. And I'm feeling kind of bleh. I'm going to give the money ($25) to charity since I'm not too sure about the morality of "donating" (that is, selling) plasma. I know the Church is against selling organs, but I'm not sure if this is quite the same thing, since plasma regenerates fairly quickly in the body. It does go to a FOR-profit corporation, and they use it to make medicines. I googled until my brain seeped out my ears, but I couldn't find out if the Church has a specific teaching on the subject. Do any of my readers have any information?

One of my friends gets a $10 bonus if I go at least two times, and I kind of told her I would, long before it even occurred to me that there might be a moral dimension to the issue. So I'm going to go once more, unless I hear that the Church's teaching frowns on it. I'll get another $25. That's $50 to whatever charity I can think of. I just got one of those fundraising- letters- disguised- as-a-thank-you from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. I love sending them donations, I always feel like I've just blown a little kiss to the Blessed Mother. Any other worthy causes you can think of?

Oh my

Danes offer to publish Holocaust cartoons

NEW YORK - The Danish editor behind publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that ignited deadly riots in the Muslim world said Wednesday he's willing to publish cartoons on the Holocaust from Iran.

"My newspaper is trying to establish a contact with the Iranian newspaper, and we would run the cartoons the same day as they publish them," Flemming Rose of the newspaper Jyllands-Posten said Wednesday in an interview on CNN's American Morning.

The Iranian newspaper Hamshahri said Tuesday it would hold the competition to test whether the West extends the same principle of freedom of expression to the Nazi genocide as it did to caricatures of the Prophet.

Full article.

I can'tguaranteee it, but I'm betting that if these cartoons get published there won't be too much embassy-burning in Tel Aviv.

I have to confess I'm fascinated by all the freedom-of-the-press issues this incident has brought to the fore. I was quite surprised to see a few American editorials counseling caution; most journalists - and certainly those in training here at Ohio U - practically turn the First Amendment into the 11th Commandment. Personally, I think it wasn't too bright or sensitive for the Danish newspaper to publish the cartoons.

But the worst thing that could happen would be if the European press allows itself to be intimidated, which looks to be happening in some cases. Sure, it was a dumb and offensive editorial choice. But the publishers have every right to put it out there. The offended public in general can see for itself that the managing editor is a few aces short of a full deck, and formulate its opinions about the quality of the paper accordingly.

Suffice it to say that the rioting is insane.

UPDATE on a much less serious issue: Last night I got my Tampico orange juice chugging time down to one minute, eight seconds. Close, so close! I'll have to try again tonight... ;)

Oh, Tampico

I am proud to announce that last night, I drank a tall topped-off glass of Tampico orange juice in the small time period of one minute, forty-five seconds.

This is how my friends and I entertain ourselves. By having me do stupid human tricks ;)

We are going to have a second run later tonight. The goal is to get the whole glass downed in under sixty seconds. Can I shave three quarters of a minute off my time? Sure I can. Not without serious health risks, probably, but... ;)

This just goes to show you how bored people can get in Athens! At least I am getting lots of Vitamin C. Seriously, I am someone who has always disliked orange juice, but now I am starting to like it, simply from over-exposure! Shock!

Great reminder from Papa

Pope Urges Renewed Respect for All Life

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY - In a strong condemnation of abortion, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged the faithful to develop a new respect for life even when it is "sick or damaged."

Marking the Italian Catholic Church's "Day for Life," Benedict stressed the need to protect all human life.

The pontiff cited the 1995 encyclical "Evangelium Vitae," in which the late
Pope John Paul II delivered the Vatican's most forceful condemnation of abortion, artificial contraception, euthanasia and experimentation on human embryos.

"We know well that this truth risks being contradicted by the hedonism of the so-called well-off societies: Life is exalted as long as it's pleasant, but one tends to not respect it any more when it is sick or damaged," Benedict told pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square for his Sunday blessing...

...In a similar message during a Mass at the St. Ann parish inside Vatican City, Benedict said people today wrongly think that modern man is the master of life when he is only the custodian. Life depends on God and without God, life disappears, he said.

Full article.

Congratulatons

To the National Champion Pittsuburg Steelers.

Quite an upset, I believe! I didn't watch much of the game, as I spent the evening hyperventilating about my story deadlines. It's what I do best ;)

I didn't see any particularly good commercials, although my roommate and I got a few good chuckles out of the "Magic Fridge" one. And the Burger King ad was.... interesting, to say the least!

My condolences to Seattle fans. Tomorrow will be pretty bad for them. The morning after always hurts.

From the comments

I don't mean to single Marc out; at the same time, I think his comment, responding to this Thursday post, mirrors a trend that is gradually spreading:

Marc with a C said...

You know, no offense or anything, but I am very troubled by a tendancy I see in nuns, priests, and other members of the Church hierarchy who have no use for their reproductive rights to crow on about how people should conduct their own affairs sexually. In my mind, permanent virgins (either physical or spiritual) have very little to add to any discussion which is intrinsicly related to human sexuality and issues such as family life. Does that mean you have to be sexually active to have an opinion on contraception and abortion? Of course not. But it does certainly severely restrict one's frame of reference. My two cents.

1:40 PM

See my response here.

It is an increasingly common logical fallacy to disregard what someone has to say simply because of their status in life: "Of course he's in favor of Affirmative Action! He's black!" "Of course he's for the war, he's in the military!" "Who are we to criticize Israel's actions? We don't have to live in fear of Palestinian terrorists!" Similarly, "Celibate priests and nuns can't have much to say about sex and the family or reproductive "rights," since they don't have sex or reproduce!" Never mind that someone's personal experience (or lack thereof) is completely irrelevant when evaluating whether their ideas make sense not.

What is disturbing to me is that a first-year philosophy class would clear this up for people; yet many times it is an educated individual who makes this mistake in argument. I see it on campus at Ohio University. Conservatives do it as often as liberals. It's a convenient and very effective fallacy, drawing the listener and/or reader away from the merits of the argument being presented and instead focusing attention on how unworthy the presenter is to make the argument.

This has gained a lot of traction with the recent upswing in the "personal experience is truth" movement. I could write a whole post (or a whole book) on how the modern rebirth of a shapeless "spirituality" has produced a way of looking at truth that is horribly anti-reason, and submits all reality to each individual's experience of life. Perhaps you have heard this jokingly referred to as the Oprahfication of culture ;) The idea, in other words, is that "You don't know how hard it is to be meeeeee! So you have no right to criticize my actions!"

Perhaps, in reading about controversial issues, you've come across statements like these:

You don't know what it's like, losing a loved one to a disgusting, perverted murderer. I do. So don't you tell me that the death penalty is wrong.

You don't know what it's like to be gay. You have no idea. So don't go saying that homosexual marriage is wrong.

Or, drumroll please...

You've never had sex, or at least you don't have sex anymore. So don't try telling me anything about what's right or wrong with regard to human sexuality.

Besides the logical fallacy bit, the trouble with this mode of thinking is that there is literally no reason for it to not devlove into:

You don't know what it's like to be in love with two women at once. So don't tell me polygamy is wrong.

Or:

You don't know what it's like to be attracted to an 11-year-old girl...

You get the idea. "Personal experience" as truth and reality does not produce a pretty picture.

Candelora

Papa Benedict arrives to lead the Candelora - the annual blessing of candles, traditionally known in English as Candlemas - for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The Holy Father also celebrated Holy Mass honoring those dedicated to the religoius life:

Vatican, Feb. 02 (CWNews.com) - Religious men and women are "an eloquent sign of God's presence in the world," Pope Benedict XVI said on February 2 as he celebrated the 10th annual World Day for Consecrated Life.

At an evening Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, attended by thousands of religious from around Rome, the Pope said that Christians living in consecrated life serve as "heralds to provide a glimpse and an announcement of the new life that is already present."
...

What beautiful words!

Full Article.

Photos: (AFP/Patrick Hertzog)

Lousy dirt rat

I mean, groundhog.

As I'm sure everyone has heard by now, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning and went scrambling back into the ground. Six more weeks of winter, bleh.

The truth is that I have no room to complain - Winter has been unbelievably mild in my part of Ohio this year. We have even had a couple of days with temperatures in the mid-60s. The prospect of six more weeks of windbreaker weather is really not that hard to endure!

It's my classes that are going to be thoroughly nasty. Everything seems to be coming due next week; and the deadline for my General Assigment story for The Post, which is on the university library's 13th century illuminated Bible, is also fast approaching. My "Reporting Contemporary Issues" class is developing into a time-consuming, stomach-knot-enducing nightmare, but it seems to be gestating pretty slowly. Perhaps re-enforcements will arrive before the beast fully emerges from its cocoon.

Signs of stirring are already evident, however, as I have been assigned a story on the percentage of US women working part-time, as described in the 2000 census. This is going to entail my interacting at length with a Women's Studies professor, I just know it.

Can't you hear it now? "Picaaaaaw, women with new babies take time off work or switch to part-time because of the oppressive patriarchy, picaaaaaaw, then they have a hard time getting back into the workforce, behhhhhh, come let us worship the Pill! The all-mighty and gracious Pill will, through the introduction of foul and unnatural chemcials into our bodies, deliver us from that terrible social evil, The Family! In fact, sometimes prolonged use of the all-powerful Pill results in permanent infertility! What a wonderful potential side-effect!"

I am sorry this post is so negative. Even the title proclaims, "Bad Attitude Follows." And here one of my goals was to reduce complaining and increase gratitude to God! Let's start again:

Thank you, O Lord, for blessing me, for helping me, for comforting me, and most of all, for keeping me in the hallow of your hand the whole day through.

From the always wacky and wonderful Curt Jester

Come, boys and girls, and see the amazing Dancing Alitos!

Congratulations to the new Justice!

What's she up to now?

Nothing, Holiness, nothing, I promise! I'm not going to touch the illuminated Bible, I'm just going to do a story on it... ;)

(AP Photo/Plinio Lepri)